COURTHOUSE — Seldom will one find a person eager or happy to enter a courthouse, whether for good reasons or for bad, but a new initiative aims to warm the typically cold and sometimes lackluster feel inside the Montgomery County Courthouse.

Pioneered by Judge Carolyn T. Carluccio, a new program dubbed “Courting Art” will spring into the courthouse in May. The program, announced during a Valentine’s Day press conference inside Carluccio’s chambers, seeks out artists in Montgomery County’s older communities for art inspired by the theme, “What I love about Montgomery County.”

The effort is led by the Montgomery Bar Association (MBA) and members of its community outreach committee (COC). Through a series of juried, volunteer art initiatives, Courting Art hopes to promote a more comfortable, visitor-friendly atmosphere inside the courthouse by populating it with artwork made by county residents aged 55 and older.

“There are few things in our lives that are more stressful than being in a courthouse, and that’s shared with litigants, defendants, victims who maybe have to face their aggressors, jurors and even attorneys and judges that come here on a daily basis,” said Carluccio. “Hospitals have learned, far quicker than we have, bringing art into the room really helps make it a lot less stressful in easing your day and making it much better. “

Submissions, in the form of original paintings or mixed media projects, will be voted on by a jury of the involved parties, including sitting judges from Pennsylvania’s 38th Judicial District’s Court of Common Pleas.

Winning pieces will be reproduced and displayed throughout the courthouse for years to come. A grand prize of $1,000 is at stake for the top winner, along with additional monetary prizes for all artwork chosen to adorn the courthouse walls.

The initiative will be funded through the Montgomery County Bar Association, which has already pledged $5,000, and will not cost any taxpayer dollars, Carluccio said. Her group is also reaching out to law firms to participate and donate.

“We really have done nothing else in the way of art. It started out with me sitting in this courtroom, sitting up there on that bench and saying, this courtroom is really bare,” she said. “The last major art initiative that was instituted to bring art into this courthouse was done during the New Deal, under the Roosevelt administration in the 1930s.”

Two free exhibitions are planned for May 10 and 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) Fine Arts Center in Blue Bell. A VIP reception and awards ceremony will immediately follow on May 13 for participants, sponsors and members of the media.

Local seniors ages 55 and older are invited to submit paintings, drawings or mixed media pieces with the theme “What I love about Montgomery County.” Art should be no larger than 18 x 24 inches, finished, and all submissions must be framed or matted.

For more information on Courting Art, visit www.courtingart.com. Those without Internet access may call Jack Costello at the MBA at 610-994-3655.